To some students, fall indicates the coming of colorful leaves and pumpkin pie, but to others it signifies the start of runny noses, painful headaches and miserable fevers. Flu season begins just when it’s time to take final exams, and the best way to prevent sickness is by getting an influenza shot.The Student Health Center will sponsor stations around campus where students can their shots during the month of November. “I’m pretty lucky with not getting sick, but I’m going to take advantage of the clinics on campus,” said Sonia Difiore, junior zoology major. “I’m not going to wait for my luck to run out.”Although Difiore has never had the disease herself, she has watched her brother suffer from the flu.”It’s a rotten thing to have,” she said. “If you don’t take care of yourself in this cold weather you can be susceptible to it.”Many people think only older people need to get flu shots, but students are at a high risk for getting the illness, said Dr. Roger Miller, lead physician at the health center. Because students spend a lot of time together in dorms, dining halls, and large classrooms, the flu could easily spread from one person to another, he said. “The flu has a real impact on students’ lives. We get many people missing school and classes,” said Miller. It is best to get a vaccination before the height of flu season, which is in December and January. The shot won’t help those who are already sick and people must get a new shot every year because the vaccine changes from year to year.”There are many strains of the flu, so each season the Centers for Disease Control makes a prediction about what strains will most likely occur,” said Miller. It is possible for someone who has gotten a flu shot to still get the illness if they contract a strain that was not covered by their vaccine. People can experience a mild fever, body aches, and fatigue after getting a shot.